Russian mediators
reopen Syrian road
BEIRUT -- Traffic returned to a major highway in northeastern Syria for the first time in seven months Monday after Russian mediation to reopen parts of the road captured last year by Turkish-backed opposition fighters.
Syrian Kurdish media and a Syrian Kurdish official said several vehicles accompanied by Russian troops began driving in the morning between the northern towns of Ein Issa and Tal Tamr. The two towns are controlled by government forces and Syrian Kurdish fighters, while the area between them is mostly held by Turkish-backed opposition fighters.
Turkish troops and allied Syrian fighters captured parts of the highway known as M4 in October, when Ankara invaded northeastern Syria to drive away Syrian Kurdish fighters. The M4 links Syria's coastal region all the way east to the Iraqi border.
Four convoys will drive on the M4 each day, with two leaving from Tal Tamr and two from Ein Issa, according to the Kurdish ANHA news agency.
Russia, a main power broker with Turkey in Syria, mediated the deal to reopen the highway, said Mervan Qamishlo, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces. Russia and Turkey back rival groups in Syria's nine-year conflict.
VW to buy its cars
at current values
KARLSRUHE, Germany -- A German court has ruled that Volkswagen must buy back cars from owners of its diesel cars equipped with software that evaded emissions testing -- but consumers must accept the current value of the car based on the mileage they drove since buying it, not the purchase price.
Volkswagen said the decision announced Monday would clear the way for settlement of remaining consumer claims in Germany. The decision affects about 60,000 claims brought by car owners there; around 262,000 others have already been covered by a $904 million class-action settlement.
"For the majority of the 60,000 pending cases, this ruling provides clarity," the company said. "Volkswagen is now seeking to bring these proceedings to a prompt conclusion in agreement with the plaintiffs."
As she left the courtroom, Volkswagen attorney Martina de Lind Wijngaarden said the company would approach plaintiffs "as quickly as possible" to reach settlements.
Heavy rain, waves
disrupt Australia
PERTH, Australia -- Tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost power, buildings were battered and trees were uprooted as a vast stretch of the west Australian coast was whipped by a severe storm Monday for the second straight day.
No casualties were reported from what Acting Assistant Commissioner of Western Australia state's Department of Fire and Emergency Services Jon Broomhall called a "a once-in-a-decade-type" storm system.
The system that struck a large area was the result of remnants of late-season Cyclone Mangga tracking southeast and colliding in the southern Indian Ocean with a northeast-moving cold front.
The combined weather system lashed a 745-mile stretch of the west coast from Carnarvon to Cape Leeuwin including the state capital, Perth, with winds gusting at more than 56 mph overnight, Bureau of Meteorology manager Neil Bennett said.
Heavy rains and 26-foot waves along 930 miles of coastline caused flooding and eroded beaches, Bennett said.
The storm was subsiding by Monday afternoon. As many as 65,000 homes and businesses had lost power at the height of the emergency. But power had been restored to all but 24,000, Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 05/26/2020